On May 15, 2007, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) issued a final order in Appalachian Power’s general rate case filed in May 2006. The SCC ordered that the base rate increase will total 3.1 percent instead of the requested 25 percent

Beginning with bills processed June 14, customer accounts are calculated according to new base rates authorized last month by the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC).  The new rates replace and are lower than interim rates implemented by law and with SCC approval in October 2006 as part of Appalachian’s original rate request.

The change in customer bills applies only to the base rate. It does not affect other recent rate-related increases approved by the SCC, including the December 2006 implementation of an Environmental and Reliability (E&R) surcharge and a January 2007 fuel factor adjustment.

On May 15, the SCC authorized a rate increase generating $24 million in new revenue for Appalachian. The company had sought an increase of approximately $198 million in its application filed in May 2006.

Under the new rate structure, Appalachian estimates a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (KWH) of electricity in a month will pay about $66.72, excluding taxes.

For other levels of use in a month, estimated residential costs will be:

The SCC approved the new rate structure based on its May order. While the approved overall increase in revenue for Appalachian is 3.1 percent, residential customers will see an average increase over the old base rates of approximately 4.8 percent.  Most classes of commercial and industrial customers will see increases of 2.2 percent or less. The difference results from the partial reversal in the new rate structure of a long-standing subsidy of residential consumers by commercial and industrial customers.

In its May 15 ruling, the SCC also directed the company to refund with interest the difference between the amounts collected from customers under the interim rates and those that would have been collected since October if the final rates had been in place. Those refunds are to be made to customers before mid-August.

All new customer rate tariffs may be viewed under Virginia Rates and Tariffs.

Appalachian Power customers are urged to continue to manage energy use wisely and to go to the energy-saving tips and a free home energy calculator that provides a better understanding of how to use power efficiently. The site also provides information on payment options available to customers.

The SCC order may be viewed at: http://www.scc.virginia.gov